


do you believe in miracles

by LiteraLi



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Hanukkah, Holidays, Olicity Holiday Trope Challenge 2019, Olicity Holiday Tropes Challenge, Spoilers for Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21892156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiteraLi/pseuds/LiteraLi
Summary: It's baby Mia's first Hanukkah!Fluff ensues.Family traditions, gift exchanges, greasy food and more!
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Comments: 22
Kudos: 131





	do you believe in miracles

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what's going on with the holidays this year in the Arrowverse! Almost everyone is dead and the show's not back until January.  
> Let's just assume this takes place after Crisis, but when everyone comes back it's still December and they get to have their holidays!  
> This was all written in one sitting, all mistakes are my own.  
> Written for @olicitytropes Olicity's Holiday Tropes Challenge on Tumblr - make sure you check out all the other works!  
> Happy reading :)

Felicity wakes on Sunday at six-thirty as she does every morning, like clockwork. She turns to her husband’s side of the bed, but just as she has every day for the past few weeks, she finds it empty and sighs. She turns to look over at the baby monitor on her night table and is happily surprised to find it shows a sleeping baby, instead of the wide awake one she was expecting. She closes her eyes again, turning over and snuggling into Oliver’s pillow, trying to catch a few more minutes of sleep-

-Mia’s cries come through the monitor’s speakers just before she can fall asleep again. Felicity groans, and rolls out of bed, looking around lethargically for her robe and slippers. She settles for one of Oliver’s over-sized sweatshirts, slides her feet in her slippers and leaves her room for the nursery, shivering slightly at the chill in the air. Boy, does she miss the days when Oliver would get the baby in the mornings and bring her back to bed. He just had to go off on this mission…

“Oh! What are you doing up so early?” Felicity asks as she enters Mia’s room to find William leaning over the crib to pick up his baby sister. The sight of the two of them together, grinning at each other, never fails to get to her, but she can’t remember the last time she saw her son awake at this hour.

“Uh,” Will answers sheepishly, hugging his sister to his chest, “I heard her crying and I was going to bring her to you.”

Felicity narrows her eyes suspiciously. “You’re a teenager, William. You sleep like the dead. Mia’s never woken you up before…”

William shuffles nervously, trying to keep his hold on his little sister, who is not making it easy; craning her neck and reaching out for her mother. Felicity reaches for the baby, taking her into her arms. 

“Hi, Mia baby, good morning, sweetheart,” she peppers her face with kisses. Mia smiles up at her, but then whimpers, rooting around for her breakfast. “Just a minute, hon, you’ll get fed as soon as your brother tells us what he’s up to so early on a Sunday morning.”

Felicity fixes her gaze on her son. She has an idea this has something to do with her husband’s absence, and she’s tired of being left in the dark. “Come on, William, you can come clean to me. I know you’re helping your father…”

“Okay, okay,” he breaks, “we wanted to spend the whole day getting ready for tonight. It’s supposed to be a surprise and I didn’t want you or Mia to come into the kitchen. Or the living room. It’s Mia’s first Hanukkah and we want it to be perfect.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Felicity grins. Oliver has been going overboard this holiday season. Waking up with the sun for the past few weeks, he’s been shopping, decorating and recipe testing non-stop. He’s been traveling all over looking for specific items; driving for hours to get them when he can’t find them in Bloomfield. And apparently her sweet, thoughtful little boy wanted to help him prepare for the first night of Hanukkah tonight. She gives Will a hug, best as she can with an impatient baby in one arm, and kisses him on the cheek. 

“That’s very sweet of you, William.” He blushes but she can tell he’s pleased. “You know Mia isn’t going to remember this, right? It’s going to be perfect just because we’ll all be together.”

“Yes, but it’s all of ours first Hanukkah with the four of us. It should be special.” William explains.

“Ok, then. Miss Mia and I are honored you got up early for us. Just tell me which rooms I _can_ be in and we’ll stay out of your way.” If her boys want to dote on her, she’s not complaining. Oliver has been buzzing with excitement for the holidays for days and she can see the holiday spirit has rubbed off on William. “However, if I’m not allowed in the kitchen, I’m going to need-”

“-I’ll bring you coffee,” her son says quickly, “and food the rest of the day. Just stay in here, your room or your office, ok?”

“Will do.”

🕎🕎🕎🕎 🕎 🕎🕎🕎🕎

The rest of the morning passes quickly. Felicity tends to Mia and gets some work done. William comes to find her periodically with food and to play with the baby. She can hear sounds from the rest of the house and smell some delicious scents from the kitchen. She wonders where Oliver is, since it seems he left early this morning and hasn’t come back yet, but William refuses to tell her.

Finally, around lunchtime, a tray with her favorite sandwich is slid onto her desk and she is embraced from behind by a familiar set of hands. 

“Mmm,” Felicity says, turning in her seat to look at her husband, “I missed you.”

“Me too,” Oliver says, smiling down at her fondly, his blue eyes sparkling with joy. He pecks her on the mouth - too short for her taste - and then walks over to where Mia is sleeping in a bouncer seat and gives her a soft kiss too. Ok, that’s allowed then.

“I just had to get a few last minute things, but we’re good now.” He comes back towards her, leaning against her desk so he can face her.

Felicity scoots her office chair closer, so that their legs touch, and grabs his hands. And because she knows her husband and his self deprecating ways, she has to ask, “Oliver, you know everything is going to be perfect, no matter what, right? You don’t need to make anything up to me, to any of us.” She searches his eyes to make sure he understands.

“I know, Felicity. And it’s not about making anything up. Although I do feel like we owe William, at least a little bit, for his last two Christmases…” Oliver trails off and Felicity nods, understanding where he’s coming from. Two years ago, Christmas and the holidays had kind of gotten swallowed up by their elopement and her moving in. They had had a lovely, quiet holiday, but were still getting used to their new family dynamic and had been very careful around one another. And then last year, William had been home from boarding school during the holiday break, but needless to say, tensions had still been running high and the holiday had been particularly stressful.

“It’s just,” Oliver hangs his head and his voice breaks a little, “I didn’t think I would get to have this, this holiday season or any. After what happened, I don’t want to take anything for granted. I want to celebrate life to the fullest with my family every day, because nothing is guaranteed.”

“Oliver…” Felicity is up out of her chair and into her husband’s arms in seconds. The past few months have been unbearable for all of them. None of them thought they would be together like this, not after Oliver’s leaving with the Monitor, his _death_. Felicity still doesn’t completely understand how everything worked out, but he’s completely right - they and their children deserve to have to best, always, for as long as they can provide it for them.

Oliver holds her tightly, brushes away the tears she hadn’t realized she had shed. “Shh, baby,” he soothes, “I didn’t mean to make you cry. This is a good thing, a happy thing.”

“I know,” she pulls back, making a noise that’s a mix between a chuckle and a sniffle, “these are happy tears. _Grateful_ tears. We’re going to have the best holiday ever. And the year after that will be even better. And the year after that-”

Her babbles are cut off by the press of her husband’s lips. She kisses him back eagerly. Just as the kiss is getting heated, the door to her office swings open.

“Dad!” William exclaims, and Felicity pulls back from Oliver, forlorn. They turn to their son, who is wearing an apron, covered in flour, and looks flustered. “You said you’d come right back. Unless your present for Mia is a new sibling, I need your help back in the kitchen!”

“William!” Oliver’s eyes almost pop out of his head at what his son is suggesting but Felicity just chuckles. Ever since he’s been back home with them, William has been a lot more comfortable around them, and she loves how he’s been coming into this new, playful, snarky personality. 

“Go, go save Hanukkah.” Felicity tells her husband, patting his chest. She leans up to give him one last kiss on his cheek and whispers in his ear, “We’ll finish this later.”

Oliver moans, soft enough for her ears only - she hopes - and with a shake of his head, he follows his sous chef out the door.

🕎🕎🕎🕎 🕎 🕎🕎🕎🕎

Felicity has been so engrossed in her work over the past few hours, she almost doesn’t notice it’s practically time to light the Hanukkah candles. Oliver had taken Mia a while ago, letting her get quite a bit of work done for Smoak Tech. She looks up, startled, when she notices how dark it’s getting outside. 

“Oliver? William?” She calls out, peeking her head out the door of her office. “I still need to look for my menorah and we should light soon.”

Oliver appears suddenly, beaming. “Come on,” he says, holding out his hand to her and gesturing his head towards the living room, “We’re all ready for you now.”

She takes his hand and lets him lead her. “ _Wow_ ,” she breathes, as the room comes into view. There’s a Christmas tree in the corner, decorated simply. But everywhere else there are Hanukkah decorations - blue and white streamers, paper menorah, dreidel and doughnut cut outs, dreidels and gold coins in decorative bowls throughout the room and on the coffee table. “You boys really outdid yourselves! This is beautiful.”

She hugs Oliver and looks around for their kids. William appears from the kitchen, holding Mia. The two of them are dressed in what can only be considered ‘ugly hanukkah sweaters’. They’re wearing matching colors, a deep blue, but William’s says ‘Let’s Get Lit’, while Mia’s reads ‘I love you a latke’.

“Ohhh,” Felicity squeals, “you two are so adorable!” She rushes over to give them a hug. “Oliver, did you get a picture of this cuteness?!”

“Multiple,” he smiles, “but we were waiting for you to get one of the whole family.” He hands her her own sweater and moves to put on his own.

After quite a few minutes trying to get a good shot with Mia smiling at the camera, it’s time to move on the night’s main activity.

“Has anyone seen my menorah?” Felicity asks again.

“Actually,” William says, “that’s kind of my present for you. I hope you don’t mind it’s technically a little early.” He gestures to where a table has been set up in front of the window that looks out to the front yard. A wrapped present sits atop it.

“William! You got me a menorah? Of course I don’t mind!” She claps her hands excitedly and rushes over to open the gift. Her old menorah had been a cheap-y one she had taken with her from city to city, apartment to apartment, and didn’t hold much sentiment.

She gasps as she sees what’s inside. “Oh my goodness, William! Is this a menorah made out of circuit boards and computer parts? I love it!”

William grins, elated, and accepts her second hug of the hour, “I thought you might like it.”

“I do!” Felicity spends a little longer examining the intricate detail of the menorah, and then sets up the candles. Her family gathers round, Mia in Oliver’s arms on her right, and William on her left. They listen quietly as she makes the blessing, answering “Amen” at the correct places as she taught them and watch respectfully as she lights the candles. They try to join in as best as they can with the songs that come next, and Felicity thinks they do a pretty good job, considering neither of them know the language. She loves the tranquility of this holiday, the feeling of beauty and hopefulness the candles emit. 

“Happy first Hanukkah, Mia,” she takes the baby into her arms and smiles at her daughter’s entrancement; her gaze completely captivated by the pretty flickering lights. Without a moment’s notice, Mia - apparently _too_ enthralled with the Hanukkah candles - tries to take a take a nose-dive out of Felicity’s hold, reaching straight for the flames.

“Woah, baby!” Felicity takes a step back just in time, as Oliver and William reach their hands out simultaneously to stop Mia as well. The baby, either sensing their distress, or because she wasn’t able to get what she wanted, starts to cry. Felicity consoles her, rocking her and rubbing her back, while explaining that fire is dangerous. 

“She is so your daughter,” Felicity jokes to Oliver, once Mia has calmed down, “jumping right into danger.”

“Or maybe she’s _your_ daughter, trying to reach for the computer parts,” he teases back.

A little overwhelmed, the family makes their way far away from the flames and sit down on the couch for the next activity of the evening - exchanging gifts. Oliver and Felicity had decided that they would do one gift for Hanukkah, tonight, and one for Christmas. Although, with all the shopping, she’s not so sure Oliver stuck to his side of the deal.

William looks like he can barely wait, so they let him open his presents first. Oliver had got him the newest gaming console, and ‘Mia’ had gotten him some new games. Felicity bought him a ‘build your own computer kit’, which she had supplemented with some tools and parts of her own. From his excited reaction and huge hug, she knows they had chosen well.

Next, they open Mia’s gifts for her, while she watches from her bouncer on the floor. She gets a ‘my first Hanukkah’ onesie from William, a children’s book about Hanukkah from Felicity that had been one of her favorites when she was young, and a set for making and storing baby food from Oliver - which was really more of a gift to himself, but Mia would be none the wiser. Oliver got some kitchen knives from William (and Mia) and some holiday themed socks from Felicity.

“I don’t get it,” William is confused when his dad beams widely and gives Felicity a big hug after opening her gift.

“What’s not to get, buddy? I just love socks!”

William shrugs and holds out the last present to Felicity. This one is from Oliver, since William gave her the menorah earlier. Felicity tears open the packaging and finds a jewelry box. She opens it carefully and her mouth falls open as she gazes upon a beautiful necklace. There are two charms on it, each one a beautiful stone.

She looks up at Oliver, “Are these-?”

“Mia and Wiliam’s birthstones,” he confirms. Her husband seems a little nervous that she might not like it, but he has nothing to worry about.

“It’s beautiful! I love it.” She leans over to give Oliver a chaste kiss. “Help me put in on?”

Oliver eagerly accepts, sweeping her hair to the side and fastening it in place. He places a kiss at the nape of her neck, and whispers, “And we can add more stones to it as needed.”

Felicity smiles. For right now, their family is perfect. But one day…

“Okay, gang!” Oliver hops up and claps his hands, startling Felicity and William but making Mia giggle. “If you’ll join me in the kitchen, please.” He leads the way, carrying Mia in her bouncer and placing her safely on the kitchen island.

Felicity’s eyes widen at the spread her boys have laid out. There are trays and trays of perfectly shaped fried doughnuts, and a wide range of fillings, ganaches, creams and candies for decoration. 

“You have William to thank for this idea,” Oliver says, placing his hand on his son’s shoulder fondly, “let the sufganiya assembling begin!”

Felicity rubs her hands together gleefully, as happy as - well, as a kid in a candy shop. “This is so much fun, William! Let’s see who can put the most toppings on without making them tip over.” 

Half an hour into decorating, she can tell Oliver is somewhat regretting allowing the two of them to be in control of how much sugar and food dye they would be consuming with each sufganiya. She and Will had made exuberant concoctions and had fun giving them silly names. William’s masterpiece was named ‘The Green Arrow’ - a chocolate filled doughnut, covered in a green-dyed glaze and topped with an arrow decal made of chocolate, while Felicity’s piece de resistance was called ‘The Queen’ - a doughnut with strawberry filling, a royal purple ganache and mini-marshmallows arranged on top in the shape of a crown. Knowing his family well, and that he wouldn’t be able to stomach such sweet desserts, Oliver had stuck to making traditional jelly doughnuts, only lightly dusting them with powdered sugar.

As they reach the end of their decorating session, Mia lets out an impatient cry. The baby girl had been a good sport throughout, entertained by the ‘great bakeoff’, but was getting restless. 

“I got her,” Oliver says, letting Felicity and William finish up. He gathers Mia in his arms, and then gets out his phone, selecting a playlist and connecting it to the bluetooth speakers Felicity had set up. Felicity grins as she recognizes the first few notes of the Hanukkah song. Oliver places his phone down and takes one of Mia’s hands, dancing around the room with her. Mia only has eyes for her father and she smiles and laughs as he spins her around. As it happens whenever Felicity sees her husband do something like this with either of their children, she feels her heart grow three sizes in her chest. She continues decorating, but is mostly watching Oliver and Mia. She can hardly believe this is her life now; that she is so lucky to have this.

Eventually, she takes Mia so she can feed her. Leaving the doughnuts to set, Oliver and William set the table for dinner. Oliver takes the latkes they had prepared earlier out of the warming drawer and sets them down with bowls of apple sauce and sour cream. He also brings soup and salad to the table, which Felicity knows is at an attempt to offset all of the fried foods and sugar they are going to consume. When Mia is done, she straps her into the highchair they had just purchased so that she can join them at the table when they eat, even though she isn’t eating solid food yet. She gives her a few toys and takes a seat at the table.

“Everything looks wonderful,” she remarks, looking to Oliver, then William, “thank you for making this Hanukkah so special.”

“Felicity, can we give Mia some applesauce?” William asks expectantly.

Felicity frowns in thought, “I don’t know, bud. She’s not even five months, and all the books say to wait…”

“But she will be next week,” he counters.

“What do you think?” she inquires of her husband.

“Well, it is organic,” Oliver answers, in a way that makes her think he and William had been planning this all along.

“Okay,” she agrees, and William jumps up excitedly, “but we better take off her sweater first.”

What follows are some of the most stressful, but also most amusing moments of parenthood yet. Mia - well, all of them, really - are covered in applesauce. Mia is highly amused and very enthusiastic about spreading applesauce all over her tray, rubbing it in her hair and squishing it between her fingers. Felicity isn’t even sure any of it made it to the baby’s mouth, but she will cherish the memories and laughter for the rest of her life.

🕎🕎🕎🕎 🕎 🕎🕎🕎🕎

Later, after everyone has eaten and Mia is bathed and dressed in her new Hanukkah onesie for bed, the family gathers once more on the couch for hot chocolate and story time. Felicity snuggles up next to Oliver, who has Mia on his lap, looking sleepy after her adventurous evening. William sits on his other side, and begins to read from Mia’s new Hanukkah book. As she watches her family and listens to her son tell the story of the miracle of Hanukkah, Felicity can’t help but muse about the historic tale’s relevance to her own life.

_There really can be miracles_.

**Author's Note:**

> Would love to hear what you thought in the comments!  
> I would LOVE to know when William and Mia were born so I could know which birthstones to choose. For Mia, I think best bet is either late July (RUBY) or August (PERIDOT) - so either red or green, both great options!  
> Happy Hanukkah tomorrow night to those that celebrate and happy holidays to all, whatever you celebrate!


End file.
